One Jar Only…Tomato Chili Sauce & Garlicky Dill Pickles

Sometimes you just cannot get exactly the flavor of chili sauce and dill pickles you want, without making a whole batch and spending lots of time in a hot kitchen!!! I scoured the Internet as usual and found these TWO recipes which allow me to make only one jar at a time. Since this is the season for fresh produce, what a better time to make ’em? Scroll all the way down to get both recipes!!!!!

Tomato Chili Sauce

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup chopped onions

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

5 cups diced vine-ripened tomatoes; peeled and seeded (I cheated and used one can of Italian chopped tomatoes)

1/2 small jalapeno, stemmed and chopped or (Cheated again and used one finely chopped orange pepper)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/16 teaspoon freshly ground cloves

2 cups white vinegar

Directions

In a medium nonreactive saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 1 minute. Add the jalapeno, remaining spices and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Pour the mixture into a sterilized 1 quart canning jar. Process the jar according to basic canning procedures. Can be used the next day or will keep for up to 1 month under refrigeration.

One Jar Dill Pickles

Things You’ll Need

Wide Mouth Quart Jar (you can buy the jar complete with the lid and ring at most hardware stores, some grocery stores, and most Wal-Mart or Target stores. I use an empty large artichoke jar from Costco)

Pickle sized cucumbers (Buy the small packages of baby cucumbers at Costco, too)

Dill (either 1 fresh head or 1 tablespoon dill seed)

1 clove garlic – peeled

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon canning salt

optional if you want HOT dills: 1 habanero pepper (buy a jar of them from the pickle/condiment aisle of grocery store)

Wash and sterilize jar, lid and ring. To sterilize, place jar upside down in a kettle containing about an inch of water. Drop the lid and ring alongside the jar and bring the water to a boil. Allow the jar to boil in the water to boil for five minutes. Turn the burner off. Carefully remove the jar and place right side up on a cloth on the counter. Keep the lid and ring in the hot water.

Thoroughly wash the cucumbers under cold, running water. Also, do not cut or break the stems off the top of any cucumbers that still have the stems attached as removing the stems at this stage will make the pickles mushy.

Stuff one head of dill into the jar or if using dill seed, put one tablespoon in quart jar (or 2 pint jars). Drop one peeled garlic clove into jar. If you want HOT dills, drop in one marinated habanero pepper plus 1/2 teaspoon of the habanero liquid from the habanero jar. Now, tightly pack the cucumbers upright into the jar pressing down firmly against the dill. Pack in as many cucumbers as you possibly can, and then… squeeze in one more. Force them as tightly into the jar as possible. Next, cover the cucumbers with the boiling brine. Next, run a clean rag around the rim of the jar. Retrieve the lid and ring from the hot water. Place on jar and tighten ring.

Place jar into a kettle large enough that you can completely cover the jar with hot water. Bring the water to a boil and then turn the burner off. Let the jar sit in the kettle until the water cools enough to enable you to take the jar out of the water bare handed. If the lid has not already sealed, you will soon hear it “pop” as it seals. Let it cool on the counter for an hour or so…